Photo: Southern University Head Football Coach Pete RichardsonBy JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriter
Photo: by Liz Condo
Coaches give Jaguars ‘passing’ grade in scrimmage
Southern had been tinkering around plenty with its running game through the first two weeks of preseason camp.
So with Bryant Lee anointed as the team’s top quarterback earlier this week, the time came in a long scrimmage Saturday morning at A.W. Mumford Stadium to air it out a bit.
The results were so-so after about 71 plays.
Lee looked crisp enough, but his performance and that of fellow sophomore Warren Matthews diminished as younger receivers took the places of nicked-up veterans.
“We wanted them to come out (Saturday) and just throw it, because I really feel we’re going to be able to run the ball and the area I want to work on is throwing,” offensive coordinator Mark Orlando said.
“I’d probably give it a C-plus. Earlier, maybe the first 30, 40 plays, a B-plus, but as some younger guys got into the scrimmage, that’s where the continuity and execution faltered.”
In unofficial statistics, Lee was 16-for-21 for 154 yards, including a 70-yard breakaway touchdown pass to Juamorris Stewart, and Matthews 7-for-14 for 34 yards.
The emphasis on passing made the offense one-dimensional, while the passing game itself was relatively conservative as the Jaguars were without three senior wide receivers: Gerard Landry (tooth), A.J. Turner (pulled leg muscle) and RaShon Jacobs (ankle).
Then, SU lost junior wide receiver Del Roberts to a hip injury and, as planned, pulled Stewart, a sophomore starter, and Mark Henderson, a senior who may start this season, to give younger receivers some work.
“He’s still inconsistent, but he’s still a young quarterback,” SU head coach Pete Richardson said of Lee, who is entering his third season with the team and his first as the starter. “We wanted to see him under pressure, to see how he’d step up and read his keys.”
The running game had been the emphasis of earlier, shorter scrimmages and, day after day, team-on-team drills concentrated on the rush.
“Going in, we wanted to take a look at Lee, see how poised he was and his accuracy and the command of the offense,” Richardson said. “The timing of that is going to have to pick up.”
As for Mathews, Richardson said, “At times, he did well. He’s still inconsistent, too.
“The more we see them under pressure, the better they’re going to be.”
Lee was good on his first nine passes, zipping the first-team offense down the field, but then junior Edward Robinson fumbled the ball after making a catch near the goal line.
Then, on what was his third “possession,” Lee came back to thread the 70-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Stewart.
However, he fumbled away the pitch on an option play, with safety Toyin Akinwale scooping up the ball and racing in for a 25-yard touchdown.
“Like coach Orlando said, ‘It was the little things that killed us,’” Lee said.
Richardson wasn’t pleased on how the execution sputtered as the scrimmage went on and younger players came in.
“Sloppy,” Richardson said. “It got a little lethargic, especially when the fatigue started to set in. That’s the thing we have to see, getting to this point. We’re making too many mental mistakes as far as assignment-wise. Part of that is coming from conditioning.”
SU, 5-6 last season, has two more weeks, including one more of preseason camp, before opening its season against longtime rival Florida A&M, 7-4 last season, at 2 p.m. Sept. 1 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala.
Matthews and Lee were also the top rushers — some by design and some by scrambles — with Matthews running seven times for 36 yards and Lee 12 times for 18 yards (and the fumble).
Three players had four catches: Stewart for 72 yards and the score, running back Darren Coates for 36 yards and receiver Nick Benjamin for 28 yards. Five others had two catches apiece and another three had one grab.
Junior end Vince Lands had two sacks and freshman end Dexter James had one.
Coaches give Jaguars ‘passing’ grade in scrimmage
Southern had been tinkering around plenty with its running game through the first two weeks of preseason camp.
So with Bryant Lee anointed as the team’s top quarterback earlier this week, the time came in a long scrimmage Saturday morning at A.W. Mumford Stadium to air it out a bit.
The results were so-so after about 71 plays.
Lee looked crisp enough, but his performance and that of fellow sophomore Warren Matthews diminished as younger receivers took the places of nicked-up veterans.
“We wanted them to come out (Saturday) and just throw it, because I really feel we’re going to be able to run the ball and the area I want to work on is throwing,” offensive coordinator Mark Orlando said.
“I’d probably give it a C-plus. Earlier, maybe the first 30, 40 plays, a B-plus, but as some younger guys got into the scrimmage, that’s where the continuity and execution faltered.”
In unofficial statistics, Lee was 16-for-21 for 154 yards, including a 70-yard breakaway touchdown pass to Juamorris Stewart, and Matthews 7-for-14 for 34 yards.
The emphasis on passing made the offense one-dimensional, while the passing game itself was relatively conservative as the Jaguars were without three senior wide receivers: Gerard Landry (tooth), A.J. Turner (pulled leg muscle) and RaShon Jacobs (ankle).
Then, SU lost junior wide receiver Del Roberts to a hip injury and, as planned, pulled Stewart, a sophomore starter, and Mark Henderson, a senior who may start this season, to give younger receivers some work.
“He’s still inconsistent, but he’s still a young quarterback,” SU head coach Pete Richardson said of Lee, who is entering his third season with the team and his first as the starter. “We wanted to see him under pressure, to see how he’d step up and read his keys.”
The running game had been the emphasis of earlier, shorter scrimmages and, day after day, team-on-team drills concentrated on the rush.
“Going in, we wanted to take a look at Lee, see how poised he was and his accuracy and the command of the offense,” Richardson said. “The timing of that is going to have to pick up.”
As for Mathews, Richardson said, “At times, he did well. He’s still inconsistent, too.
“The more we see them under pressure, the better they’re going to be.”
Lee was good on his first nine passes, zipping the first-team offense down the field, but then junior Edward Robinson fumbled the ball after making a catch near the goal line.
Then, on what was his third “possession,” Lee came back to thread the 70-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Stewart.
However, he fumbled away the pitch on an option play, with safety Toyin Akinwale scooping up the ball and racing in for a 25-yard touchdown.
“Like coach Orlando said, ‘It was the little things that killed us,’” Lee said.
Richardson wasn’t pleased on how the execution sputtered as the scrimmage went on and younger players came in.
“Sloppy,” Richardson said. “It got a little lethargic, especially when the fatigue started to set in. That’s the thing we have to see, getting to this point. We’re making too many mental mistakes as far as assignment-wise. Part of that is coming from conditioning.”
SU, 5-6 last season, has two more weeks, including one more of preseason camp, before opening its season against longtime rival Florida A&M, 7-4 last season, at 2 p.m. Sept. 1 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala.
Matthews and Lee were also the top rushers — some by design and some by scrambles — with Matthews running seven times for 36 yards and Lee 12 times for 18 yards (and the fumble).
Three players had four catches: Stewart for 72 yards and the score, running back Darren Coates for 36 yards and receiver Nick Benjamin for 28 yards. Five others had two catches apiece and another three had one grab.
Junior end Vince Lands had two sacks and freshman end Dexter James had one.
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